Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

On May 3, 1867, King William IV of the Kingdom of the Netherlands sent a delegation of senior officials from the Far East, headed by William's senior official Flos Arran von Hall, to Japan in the Far East with the purpose of strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries. , especially economic cooperation in the Far East.

After landing in Japan on the 7th, Hall's arrival received great attention from Emperor Meiji, but he had no choice but to ignore it. The Dutch's strong wind of sanctions against the French Empire in Europe blew up all the countries in the world. .

He has seen all this, so he has almost put the Netherlands on the same level as the UK. After all, a strong and independent UK, and a Dutch Kingdom that has successfully formed a team that is no weaker than the UK, how can he dare? Look down on each other.

After Meiji Ten-Emperor Hall and others visited, he sent three of his capable men, Toshimichi Amakubo, Saigo Takamori and Kido Takayun, to meet with Hall and others respectively. Hall naturally knew that the three people in front of him were Japan is the most powerful person after the Emperor Mingzhi, so although he does not act like a white man, he is supreme.

So when these three people faced the white people of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, one of the world's largest countries, with trepidation, these people started talks in which the Netherlands took the initiative and they could only be passive. In the end, they firmly grasped the initiative. Hall and others finally took the initiative to gain economic benefits. Of course, the political tasks assigned by Amsterdam were not forgotten.

The Dutch delegation finally reached an agreement on economic cooperation in the Far East with Japan. Japan in the Far East once again became a supplier of labor and resources to the Netherlands, and became one of the primary producers of raw materials for the construction of the Far East under William IV.

Seeing that the Netherlands' actions in the Far East had yielded huge results, the Commonwealth of America also began to join the ranks of the Netherlands and sent Secretary of State Seward to visit Tokyo.

"Your Majesty, with the signing of the peace agreement with the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of America has become restless so quickly." Tolback frowned, feeling a little dissatisfied.

"According to what I said, we should have stopped their tripartite peace talks from the beginning and continued the war. That is in our best interests."

William IV smiled bitterly. He almost quarreled with Tolbeck over this matter, but in the end when he said he was careful that the French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia would benefit from being too strong, and Britain would be too weakened, which would not be good for the Netherlands. After analyzing the benefits, he reluctantly gave up.

Unexpectedly, now that the Lincoln government of the United States of America has followed suit, the Prime Minister himself has a bad temper again.

However, I have to admit that President Lincoln's approach of the American Confederate States is indeed a bit unkind.

The UK hasn't even started yet, but you can't wait to start.

William IV changed the subject and said: "Lincoln is not a simple person. I am actually very afraid of him."

Tolbek was successfully diverted and praised:

"Of course it's not simple. A slave emancipation law is enough to make the North and the man invincible. After all, black slaves are everywhere in the South. This has almost destroyed the strength of the South from the inside. The North's The cohesion has also increased, and the reputation has been gained, which is an extraordinary means.

It’s a pity that he is from the Commonwealth of America. If the Commonwealth of America really wants to implement Secretary Seward’s policy of westward expansion into the Pacific,”

Speaking of this, Tolbeck said with an ugly face: "Sooner or later, they will compete with us, so we need to be prepared."

William IV nodded and acknowledged Tolbeck's words.

In fact, he knew better than others of this era that westward expansion was their future national policy. Seward and Lincoln were just the founders.

Those who will be in power in the future will be unable to expand their power in the Atlantic Ocean (in fact, it has been occupied by European countries and cannot expand). However, the Pacific Ocean is a land to be developed. At least in their view, it should be easier to start. There was a lot of land grabbing, otherwise it would not have happened. At the end of the 19th century, when the Commonwealth of America saw Spain's weakness, it snatched the Philippines from Spain. Before that, it had taken the Hawaiian Islands from Britain, France and other countries.

Therefore, William IV, who was familiar with history, could be said to be the third most wary of the American Commonwealth after Britain and Prussia, and even before the French Empire led by Napoleon III.

William IV sighed: "Lincoln was born to make a political job. His methods are not limited to these. He is also unparalleled in boldly benefiting political opponents."

Seeing that Tolbek was unclear, William IV began to explain.

In 1861, when Lincoln came to power in the face of dissatisfaction in the South, the threat to his life was so dangerous that he had to sneak into Washington.

The situation of military confrontation between the North and the South became more and more serious and dangerous, and more and more worrying. When Lincoln arrived in Washington, he looked at the Potomac River and saw the Confederate flag over the Alexander Fortress, that is, There was a growing sense of crisis among those loyal to the federal government, as the first leader had two conflicting forces, those who strongly advocated the abolition of slavery and those who remained in the Union. The Communist Party, a new political party formed by people, is his party, and he must safeguard the factional disputes within the party.

Only by uniting everyone can the unity of the entire country be maintained.

In this process, he did not completely use people from his own party in forming the cabinet. When he selected cabinet members, he not only selected his staunch followers, he also decided to bring his enemies on board. To help each other, he elected Salmon Chase, known for his fanatical radicalism, and William Seward, known for his cautiousness, into the cabinet government.

Among the members of his disparate cabinet, it can be said that there are only two things in common: each member hates the others; each believes that he is more suitable for the position of president than Lincoln, and is more suitable to be president.

"They want to eat you," someone reminded him.

"Each one of them seems equally interested in getting rid of the others," Lincoln replied with the witty humor of a political veteran.

With Lincoln's shrewdness and tenacity, he had enough ability to find powerful people under his command, arrange suitable positions for them to heal, and supervise them under his nose. This way, he could better supervise and defend, instead of being completely confused and unable to prevent them. .

Speaking of this, William IV said: "Embrace your friends tightly, but you must hug your enemies even more tightly, hugging them tight enough that it is impossible for them to even move."

Good idea!

So insightful.

Tolbeck looked at William IV with admiration.

The latter shook his head and said: "Although I concluded this, this is Lincoln's method."

The two men were chatting with each other, but President Lincoln in America didn't know that he was already being remembered.